Pupils in England have answered more than 15.5 million times tables questions and played over 850,000 practice games in the past 12 months, as schools prepare for the Year 4 Multiplication Tables Check (MTC) this June.
The data, drawn from 39,214 pupils in over 1,000 English schools, highlights the growing focus on times tables fluency as a core priority in primary education, with regular practice taking place both in classrooms and at home.
With the statutory MTC placing pupils under pressure to recall multiplication facts in just six seconds per question, educators are increasingly looking for ways to build confidence, improve recall speed and identify gaps ahead of the assessment window.
In response, EdShed has made its Multiplication Tables Check practice simulator freely available, giving schools across England access to a simple way to replicate test conditions and embed regular practice.
Designed to mirror the structure and experience of the official check, the simulator enables pupils to practise in a familiar environment, helping to reduce anxiety while supporting teachers to monitor progress and target intervention where needed.
The MTC is a fully digital assessment, requiring pupils to input answers via keyboard or onscreen number pad using a tablet, laptop or desktop device. Schools have flexibility in how they administer both the official check and practice sessions, whether individually, in small groups or as a whole class and EdShed’s tool has been developed to reflect this.
Dr Martin Saunders, CEO and co-founder of EdShed, said: “By making our MTC simulator freely available, we want to ensure that every school and every pupil has access to high-quality preparation, regardless of budget. With just six seconds to answer each question, confidence and recall speed are critical. At a time when schools are under increasing pressure to deliver strong outcomes in core maths, tools like this play a vital role in helping children develop the speed, accuracy and confidence needed not just for the MTC, but for wider mathematical success.”
EdShed’s platforms are used by more than 12,000 schools, 170,000 educators and 2.5 million pupils worldwide, supporting phonics, spelling and maths learning in primary classrooms.
Try the free MTC simulator: https://www.mathshed.com/en-gb/mtc
What is the Multiplication Tables Check (MTC)?
The Multiplication Tables Check (MTC) is a statutory online assessment in England for Year 4 pupils (aged 8–9), held each June and designed to assess whether children can recall times tables fluently up to 12 × 12.
The check takes under five minutes to complete and consists of:
- Three practice questions followed by 25 multiplication questions
- Six seconds per question, with a three second pause between each
- A focus on key tables, particularly the 6, 7, 8, 9 and 12 times tables
- No division questions and no repeated fact pairs (e.g. 7 × 8 and 8 × 7 won’t both appear)
The purpose of the MTC is to ensure pupils develop rapid recall of multiplication facts, a fundamental skill that underpins success in secondary school mathematics. It is a statutory assessment for pupils in state-funded maintained schools, special schools and academies in England, and is delivered fully online. Schools have flexibility in how they administer the check during a two- to three-week window in June.
There is no pass or fail mark and children do not see their results. Instead, schools (and parents) receive a score out of 25, helping to identify pupils who may need additional support. The Department for Education reports on national attainment but does not publish individual school results.
